Glee: Loser Like Me/Homecoming
January 9, 2015 11:37 PM - Season 6, Episode 1 - Subscribe
Glee takes the Community season 5 method of "let's get the old band back together and come back to school!", with surprisingly good results. Is this show worth watching again? I think it's worth a shot, you guys!
Okay, so I'm seriously gonna be the only person who posts to this, but what the hell. I was actually really impressed at how Ryan Murphy and company managed to improve things for the last season:
(a) Much as I concur (in the same way that Community season five had to semi-implausibly bring everyone back after leaving) that to some degree it's a little weird to bring back most of the original folks despite them presumably having lives and schools and the military elsewhere, it was great to have good performers back doing what they do best. At the very least, it's plausible to bring Blaine and Rachel back loser-style. And while I'm surprised that NYADA just lets their third years run free in the breeze (oh, "work-study") for a year....eh, I'll go with it.
(b) Wow, Rachel's sitcom was just as bad as it looked in season 5. And her dads are divorcing (wah, no more Goldblum?) and there goes her childhood bedroom. Blaine and Kurt are broken up at Kurt's decision, but he's having regrets--meanwhile, Blaine went to Country Bear Jamboree Night (har) and is now dating Karofsky. Oh my. I don't know how I feel about that pairing any more--like the guys individually but not a lot of sexual chemistry there and lately, a lot of spats, so maybe it's all for the best. Or not. Beats me.
(c) Shue is the coach at Carmel and Blaine is the coach at Dalton and Rachel goes above Principal Sylvester's head to get the glee club reinstated whether she likes it or not. I think I'm going to enjoy this rival coaches thing this year.
(d) Can't say I missed the 4th/5th year newbies. Not real thrilled to see that one of them (Kitty) was kept, but we'll see.
(e) On the other hand, I do like the New New New Directions, particularly Jane (doing the Tightrope!) and Roderick Headphones Guy rocking Mustang Sally. Not sure what's going on with the Flowers In The Attic Twins, but I'll reserve judgement for now. Dunno how I feel about the bullying-but-secure-in-his-gayness football player dude, we'll see how he turns out when he inevitably joins up, stereotypes or no.
(f) Heck, even the AV Club gave it an A-!
Hell, it was a lot better already on the plot for a change. And the music's still awesome.
Okay, so I'm seriously gonna be the only person who posts to this, but what the hell. I was actually really impressed at how Ryan Murphy and company managed to improve things for the last season:
(a) Much as I concur (in the same way that Community season five had to semi-implausibly bring everyone back after leaving) that to some degree it's a little weird to bring back most of the original folks despite them presumably having lives and schools and the military elsewhere, it was great to have good performers back doing what they do best. At the very least, it's plausible to bring Blaine and Rachel back loser-style. And while I'm surprised that NYADA just lets their third years run free in the breeze (oh, "work-study") for a year....eh, I'll go with it.
(b) Wow, Rachel's sitcom was just as bad as it looked in season 5. And her dads are divorcing (wah, no more Goldblum?) and there goes her childhood bedroom. Blaine and Kurt are broken up at Kurt's decision, but he's having regrets--meanwhile, Blaine went to Country Bear Jamboree Night (har) and is now dating Karofsky. Oh my. I don't know how I feel about that pairing any more--like the guys individually but not a lot of sexual chemistry there and lately, a lot of spats, so maybe it's all for the best. Or not. Beats me.
(c) Shue is the coach at Carmel and Blaine is the coach at Dalton and Rachel goes above Principal Sylvester's head to get the glee club reinstated whether she likes it or not. I think I'm going to enjoy this rival coaches thing this year.
(d) Can't say I missed the 4th/5th year newbies. Not real thrilled to see that one of them (Kitty) was kept, but we'll see.
(e) On the other hand, I do like the New New New Directions, particularly Jane (doing the Tightrope!) and Roderick Headphones Guy rocking Mustang Sally. Not sure what's going on with the Flowers In The Attic Twins, but I'll reserve judgement for now. Dunno how I feel about the bullying-but-secure-in-his-gayness football player dude, we'll see how he turns out when he inevitably joins up, stereotypes or no.
(f) Heck, even the AV Club gave it an A-!
Hell, it was a lot better already on the plot for a change. And the music's still awesome.
Okay so I gave up on Glee years ago, but came back partially last year. I checked the breakdowns of the show and only watched the parts of the episodes that interested me (that would be the New York parts)
I will probably treat this new season the same way - wait until the end, see where they leave my favorite characters and watch / don't watch accordingly.
I am still holding out hope that Rachel will end up with her perfect partner - Jesse St. James. I am also an unapologetic fan of Blaine and Kurt (well really a fan of Kurt getting whatever he wants). Karofsky is an interesting character, but I hope he finds love with someone else. Preferably someone he never assaulted or the ex of someone he assaulted.
posted by Julnyes at 9:14 AM on January 10, 2015
I will probably treat this new season the same way - wait until the end, see where they leave my favorite characters and watch / don't watch accordingly.
I am still holding out hope that Rachel will end up with her perfect partner - Jesse St. James. I am also an unapologetic fan of Blaine and Kurt (well really a fan of Kurt getting whatever he wants). Karofsky is an interesting character, but I hope he finds love with someone else. Preferably someone he never assaulted or the ex of someone he assaulted.
posted by Julnyes at 9:14 AM on January 10, 2015
It wasn't bad.
First, though, Rachel's short shorts are very inappropro for a teacher.
I was thinking that the Becky Jackson Memorial Computer Lab plaque was so that if she died, Sue wouldn't have to buy another plaque.
The problem I have with the final season doing this three way conceit is that it takes focus away from the characters we already knew and liked such as Puck or Santana or Brittany. Couldn't they have done something like a professional glee league or something. Then you could see them be adults in the adult world playing for pride while working out their own things. Now you have to introduce and service a whole new wave of kids who we likely won't give two shits about. (Does anyone *really* miss Marley Rose?)
posted by inturnaround at 11:15 AM on January 11, 2015
First, though, Rachel's short shorts are very inappropro for a teacher.
I was thinking that the Becky Jackson Memorial Computer Lab plaque was so that if she died, Sue wouldn't have to buy another plaque.
The problem I have with the final season doing this three way conceit is that it takes focus away from the characters we already knew and liked such as Puck or Santana or Brittany. Couldn't they have done something like a professional glee league or something. Then you could see them be adults in the adult world playing for pride while working out their own things. Now you have to introduce and service a whole new wave of kids who we likely won't give two shits about. (Does anyone *really* miss Marley Rose?)
posted by inturnaround at 11:15 AM on January 11, 2015
I also though that about the shorts! And they went right in the crack and the camera really wanted us to see that. I am pretty sick of Rachel and I bummed that she ended up the star of the show.
It looks like Unique will be back this season, but not Marley. I would like to hear the actress sing again, but probably not as that character.
Where is Emma? Did I miss something, I never finished last season because I was so annoyed about all of it.
Love Jane. Roderick seems OK. I was very happy to see Becky again.
posted by Duffington at 12:03 PM on January 13, 2015
It looks like Unique will be back this season, but not Marley. I would like to hear the actress sing again, but probably not as that character.
Where is Emma? Did I miss something, I never finished last season because I was so annoyed about all of it.
Love Jane. Roderick seems OK. I was very happy to see Becky again.
posted by Duffington at 12:03 PM on January 13, 2015
I was really pleasantly surprised by this episode. I've somehow suffered my way through almost all the episodes of this show, but it really got nearly unbearable in seasons 4 and 5. Even once they ditched the newbies, I just found all the old characters that I used to love were getting so obnoxiously petty and irritating and childish.
I am glad they got rid of pretty much all the new characters from season 4/5. (Especially Marley, for some reason she annoyed me so much.) I also think they did a much better job of introducing the new characters, especially Jane and Roderick. We've only seen them for one episode, and yet they feel more well-rounded and relatable than any of the other new New Directions. It helps that they aren't just obvious stand ins for the original New Directions.
Lastly, the musical numbers were a real highlight of this episode! I mean, the music as long been one of the main reasons I've stuck with the show, but I thought these performances were particularly strong. I also thought it was clever how they worked in that sketch thing from the A-ha video into the whole episode.
Overall, this episode was better than I anticipated. I was expecting to have to grit my teeth until the end, but for now I'm cautiously optimistic. In fact, I almost found myself wishing the show wasn't about to end.
posted by litera scripta manet at 7:59 AM on January 14, 2015
I am glad they got rid of pretty much all the new characters from season 4/5. (Especially Marley, for some reason she annoyed me so much.) I also think they did a much better job of introducing the new characters, especially Jane and Roderick. We've only seen them for one episode, and yet they feel more well-rounded and relatable than any of the other new New Directions. It helps that they aren't just obvious stand ins for the original New Directions.
Lastly, the musical numbers were a real highlight of this episode! I mean, the music as long been one of the main reasons I've stuck with the show, but I thought these performances were particularly strong. I also thought it was clever how they worked in that sketch thing from the A-ha video into the whole episode.
Overall, this episode was better than I anticipated. I was expecting to have to grit my teeth until the end, but for now I'm cautiously optimistic. In fact, I almost found myself wishing the show wasn't about to end.
posted by litera scripta manet at 7:59 AM on January 14, 2015
Okay two more things:
1. I also felt Emma's absence was very conspicuous, especially since they bothered having us spend so much time in Will's home. I wish they had addressed it, even if it was in some hand-wavy way, like she's spending 6 months getting treatment for OCD or she's busy working for the underground Sue-resistance movement or something.
2. I think this episode showed some real growth for Rachel's character arc. I feel like there's a time not too long ago where she would have felt threatened or just not willing to help someone like Jane who is very talented and (initially) a member of a rival show choir. I know lots of people find Rachel annoying, but I've always been fond of her, in part because I really like Lea Michele, so it was nice to see how she interacted with everyone in this episode.
And thanks for posting this episode! I only just got around to watching this episode, but I was glad to see that a discussion had already been started over here.
posted by litera scripta manet at 8:20 AM on January 14, 2015
1. I also felt Emma's absence was very conspicuous, especially since they bothered having us spend so much time in Will's home. I wish they had addressed it, even if it was in some hand-wavy way, like she's spending 6 months getting treatment for OCD or she's busy working for the underground Sue-resistance movement or something.
2. I think this episode showed some real growth for Rachel's character arc. I feel like there's a time not too long ago where she would have felt threatened or just not willing to help someone like Jane who is very talented and (initially) a member of a rival show choir. I know lots of people find Rachel annoying, but I've always been fond of her, in part because I really like Lea Michele, so it was nice to see how she interacted with everyone in this episode.
And thanks for posting this episode! I only just got around to watching this episode, but I was glad to see that a discussion had already been started over here.
posted by litera scripta manet at 8:20 AM on January 14, 2015
I've given up on the show twice before, but this episodes did a decent job of bringing me back.
posted by drezdn at 10:27 AM on January 14, 2015
posted by drezdn at 10:27 AM on January 14, 2015
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Glad to see a lot of the old folks back, even if it was kind of implausible for some of them to be there — but let's face it, Glee has never made it a priority to have "plausible" plots. Glad to see Karofsky back; I have a soft spot for his character. Kind of neutral on the Blaine/Karofsky pairing: I just hope Karofsky ends up happy, with or without Blaine, but I realize it's pretty inevitable that Blaine and Kurt will end up together.
I think "three-way dueling coaches" is a promising hook for the season. Really like Roderick and Jane as the core of the New New Directions, not so sure on the twins but we'll see where that goes.
Loved having Becky back for the homecoming announcements with her rules, including "No making out under the bleachers, because that's where I'll be making out," and, when she was struggling with Sue for the microphone, "The loser will be sacrificed."
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:24 AM on January 10, 2015